Built-in electronic levelBuilt-in electronic level now features a tilt scale display in Live View.

SDXC memory card compatibility (via firmware update).

Autofocus

Targeted at taking out the Nikon D300s, Olympus E-5 and the Canon 7D, the Pentax K-5 comes in as quite the spartan. In terms of autofocus, the camera actually seemed very, very speed. This was being tested in indoor lighting at the convention center. IF a Pentax shooter is out photographing wildlife, sports etc the K-5 will more than please.

Even better: it’s quiet. And so is the shutter.

During my brief test, I used it in full autofocus, and so did not select any specific points. I did however tested how well it tracked. This seemed to deliver varying results and I’m not comfortable giving a definite conclusion without putting the camera through it’s paces.

Ergonomics

The K-5feels quite a bit like the Nikon D300s and Olympus E-5. In fact, if a person were blind folded it would probably even be extremely hard for them to tell them apart.

A great feature that I do like though is the fact that one can shoot without moving their eye from the viewfinder. These days, photographers tend to fully manipulate aperture, shutter speed and ISO. All of this can easily be done with the press of a button and the turn of a dial. Given the chance, I’d surely take it to a wedding, on a studio set, or for photojournalistic applications with the correct lens and flash combination.

What is really nice is the green LCD screen which I can actually see being very useful in lower-light situations vs Canon’s orange. To be fair though, Canon’s puts the information in an easier to display format.

Something that I’ve always valued about Pentax cameras is the dial: one needs to depress the middle button to switch the shooting mode. Why is this great? Try shooting a wedding and bumping into people or having them bump your dial and switching your shooting mode. You won’t be happy with how the photos come out afterward and will surely need to do more adjustments.

The viewfinder is surprisingly dark. However, it could have been the fact that I was in a darker area. Even so, Canon’s 7Dand Nikon’s D300shave never been that dark in the concerts I’ve shot with them.

Durability

Even though I was on the fourth floor of the center trying it out, I didn’t drop test it at all or give it a full run-through in the bag. But the camera does indeed feel very tough. We’re requesting a review unit to put through the paces.

Metering

Coming from Canon, this is a bit of a weird metering system. It seems like the sensor needs a lot more light to be able to shoot at certain apertures and ISOs. This will in-turn mean slower shutter speeds compensated for by the in-camera image stabilization.

Luckily, the K-5 does have a button to immediately change the metering to the ideal setting for hand-held shooting with a balanced exposure.

More to come in the full review soon.

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